Chapter Sixteen
Dec
I stepped outside to find Liv, only to see her standing by the railing with Andrew advancing on her. That slimy prick. He was probably hitting on her, just like he had the other week when I caught him sleazing onto her down by the beach. Anger began to simmer deep in my belly, and I stalked up the white steps that led to where they were standing. As my fake wife, Liv wasn’t really ‘mine’ per se, but she was still mine to protect. I told her I’d do anything to keep her safe.
I damn well meant it.
“Hey! What’s going on?” I asked as I drew towards the two of them. The closer I got, the more it looked like Andrew was actually threatening Liv, not hitting on her.
Andrew drew back and gave me a genial smile. “Just asking if she’s okay, that’s all.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Sure didn’t look like it. Step away from her.”
“Calm down, man. I think you had a bit too much to drink at dinner.” He guffawed, then slapped me on the back. “See ya round, Dec.”
As soon as he was gone, I strode right over to Liv and slid my arm around her waist, holding her steady. She was pale, and her legs looked like they might give out at any moment. “Was he really just asking how you are?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Liv, I want to take care of you. But you’ve gotta tell me everything in order for me to do that. What’s going on with you and that douchebag?”
She bit her lip, then let out a shaky sigh. “Remember the other week, when you ran into us near the beach?”
“Yeah. I got the impression he was cracking onto you.”
Liv shook her head. “It wasn’t really like that. All I told you that day was that he was making it clear what a slimy dickwad he is. I didn’t want to worry you by telling you everything, because I thought he was all bark and no bite.”
I stiffened. “Tell me everything.”
“That day, he asked me to do some dodgy stuff with him. For the show. He thinks it’d create an advantage for us, and him and Yvonne too. Launch us into the finals. Anyway, I said no. He pushed me. Not hard. It only hurt because I happened to hit the railing on the side of the path.”
I gritted my teeth as my anger turned to rage. “He pushed you? That son of a…”
“Wait, just listen,” she begged me. “He just told me it was him who made me sick. He put something in my food earlier. That’s why I’ve been vomiting. He did it to make some sort of point about how I should’ve listened to him and done what he said.”
Her words stoked the fire of my wrath. “I’ll kill him. I’ll kill that fucking basta—”
“No!” she pleaded, grabbing the front of my shirt. “Dec, if you hurt him, you’ll make it worse. You could get in trouble. And I know how much you need the money for your sister. If you cause trouble on Mom’s show and end up getting sued by Andrew for beating him up, then that might somehow invalidate whatever contract you have with her.”
I gritted my teeth. She had a point. But still, I wasn’t going to let that fucking asshole get away with hurting her and threatening her. No way.
“I won’t hurt him,” I promised. “But I’m still gonna talk to him. You go back inside and sit with Shayla, okay?”
She looked up at me with big fearful eyes. “Okay,” she said quietly.
“Go on, baby girl.”
She trudged down the steps and went inside. I followed, but I went in a different direction once I was inside—there was something I needed to grab from our room. When I had my little case of cigars in my hand (they were something I usually kept around if I ever felt the need to celebrate), I headed back outside and found Andrew. He was standing with his fake wife Yvonne, looking at the shimmery night sea.
“Hey, man,” I said, pasting on an embarrassed grin. “Listen, I just wanted to say sorry for what happened back there. I overreacted. You’re right, I did drink a bit much earlier.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “Right. Well, thanks for the apology, I guess.”
I held up the cigars. “Peace offering?” I leaned in. “I hear you have some sort of plan you think could help us get to the finale. Liv isn’t keen, as you’ve probably realized—fucking women, eh?—but I’d like to hear about it.”
Andrew nodded as a slow grin spread across his face. Idiot. “Won’t say no to one of those,” he said.
I handed him a cigar, my own fake grin still firmly in place. “Can’t smoke up here,” I said, gesturing to a nearby sign. “But we can on the dive deck down below. You can tell me your plan there.”
“Sure. Yvonne, I’ll meet you inside,” he said, patting Yvonne on the ass.
She stepped away, and Andrew and I headed down a few flights of stairs till we reached the outside dive deck. It was lit up with a string of fairy lights, and I kicked my shoes off and sat at the steps which led down into the water. “Nice night,” I said, pulling out my lighter for the cigar.
They say people tend to subconsciously mimic the behavior of those around them. In this case, that was true. Andrew followed me over to the edge and sat down as well, dangling his feet in the water. “Sure is,” he said. “Water’s a bit chilly, but still…”
Before he could say another word, I grabbed him by his collar and shoved him face down into the water. I wasn’t going to drown him; hell no. I promised Liv I wouldn’t hurt him.
But I didn’t promise that I wouldn’t scare him.
I let him come up for air, holding him by his hair now. He spat out water and cried out. “What the fuck?” he said, voice choked up. “Help!”
“No one can hear you down here. No one’s coming to help you,” I said. “So here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna leave Liv the fuck alone.”
“I didn’t do anything to her. She’s a lying bitch. Whatever she told you—”
I submerged his head again, sneering as I watched him struggle. He was no match for my strength, the weedy little prick. “Sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” I said, pulling him back up a few seconds later. “Did you say you promise to leave her alone? Or do I need to drown you and tell everyone you fell in?”
He was panting now, and his arms were covered in goosebumps. He was right—the water was chilly at this time of night. “Yes!” he said. “I’ll leave her alone.”
I smiled. “That’s what I like to hear. Now, you go near Liv ever again, or say just one word to her, I’ll get you. And it won’t be so easy for you then. Got it?”
He nodded shakily. “Got it.”
I watched him dash back up the stairs to the middle deck, and I smiled and shook my head. He’d been so easy to fuck with. Of course I wasn’t actually going to drown the dude, but he didn’t need to know that. He couldn’t tell anyone what happened, either, without making himself look bad. And for Liv’s sake, I hadn’t hurt a hair on his head.
The smile faded from my lips as a tall, curvaceous shape emerged from the shadows on the stairs. Shit. Someone had been watching us.
My pulse doubled as I realized it was Isobel. She was a real ice queen, and Liv had told me many a time that she was this season’s main ‘bitch’. We hadn’t interacted much in our time on the show, but from what I’d seen, Liv wasn’t exactly wrong. Isobel seemed cold, calculating and domineering in everything I’d seen of her so far.
Half of me expected her to run away and tell the producers what I’d done, get me kicked off the show. That would certainly benefit her. The other half thought she might try to blackmail me by threatening to tell people what I did unless I volunteered to leave the show. Either way, I was sure I was gone.
She looked down at me with a blank expression for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. “That prick deserved it,” she said lightly.
Then she turned and walked away.